Exercise App 'Human' Attempts To Make Moving Fun

As a general rule, there are three types of people when it comes to physical activity—active, semi-active, and sedentary. Although I’ve experienced all of these throughout my life, I know the latter category all too well. There are plenty of apps for active individuals out there, less (but still a fair amount) for semis, and even less for sedentary lifestyles. Because really, how minimal can you get before you’re not actually working out at all?

Well, Human, quite aptly through their subtitle “make moving fun,” attempts to bridge the gap. In short, it’s goal is to get you to move for 30 minutes each day. Whether this is by way of walking, running, riding a bike, or doing exercise in place doesn’t matter—as long as you’re moving. It’s a relatively novel concept, because there are millions of people out there who either don’t have time to exercise, or don’t want to go to the gym.

Through my personal tests, I used it to walk up and down stairs for 10 minutes at a time, then went for a walk around my neighborhood to get the full 30 minutes in. Human offers up inspirational words at nearly every turn, even at the first minute mark. It also has “streaks,” which you’ll bank with consecutive goals.

Don’t expect a whole lot from Human though. This is basically a glorified timer that simply tracks your movements and lists them in data form. But what it does do, it does well. You’ll also need to sign up with a proprietary login or by way of Facebook connect—adding yet another login to your lengthy list.

Despite its simplicity, Human is a very effective way to get up and do something—perhaps the most simple method you’re ever going to find. What’s more, it’s a clean, beautiful app visually, which is always a big factor in my willingness to use an app that’s trying to get me to do something. If you’re working at a desk or are otherwise accustomed to sitting down and want to move around a bit, check it out.